Surgery case
- YAQOOPKING الاحمدي
- Jan 2
- 3 min read
seem to be referring to the famous reconstructive surgery case that went viral globally. While stories often circulate with slight variations (mentioning a leg or foot), the medically documented case that stunned the world actually involved growing an ear on a patient's forearm (the arm).
This procedure is considered a marvel of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Here is the detailed story of this medical achievement:
🏥 The Patient and the Accident
The story began in 2016 in China. The patient, known only as "Mr. Ji," had lost his right ear completely in a severe car accident.
The Trauma: Beyond the physical pain, the loss of the ear caused him immense psychological distress. He told reporters, "I felt incomplete."
The Challenge: The scarring around the original ear site was so severe that traditional skin grafts or prosthetic ears wouldn't work effectively. The blood supply was insufficient to support a new ear directly on the head.
👨⚕️ The Genius Surgeon
The surgery was led by Dr. Guo Shuzhong, a renowned reconstructive surgeon at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University in Xi'an, China. He devised a three-stage plan that sounded like science fiction.
⚙️ The Three Stages of the Surgery
Dr. Guo's plan involved "growing" the ear on the patient's body where blood supply was rich, before moving it to the head.
Stage One: Skin Expansion Doctors inserted a skin expander under the skin of Mr. Ji's right forearm. This was done to stretch the skin gradually, creating enough space and loose skin to accommodate the new ear structure.
Stage Two: The Sculpture (The "Alien" Phase) This was the most visually shocking phase that made headlines.
Doctors took cartilage from the patient's own ribs.
They sculpted this cartilage into the precise shape of an ear (using the remaining left ear as a model).
They buried this cartilage framework under the stretched skin of the forearm.
The Result: Over several months, the skin adhered to the cartilage, and blood vessels grew into it. Mr. Ji literally walked around with a growing ear on his arm.
Stage Three: The Transplant Once the ear was fully formed, vascularized, and covered in healthy skin (about 4 months later), the team performed a complex microsurgery. They detached the ear from the arm—keeping its blood vessels intact—and reattached it to the side of his head, connecting the blood vessels to those in the neck.
❓ Why the Arm (and not the Foot)?
While some might confuse the story with the leg or foot, the forearm was chosen for specific medical reasons:
Thin, pliable skin: The skin on the inner forearm is thin and matches the texture of ear skin better than the thick skin of the foot or leg.
Visibility: It allowed doctors to easily monitor the growth and health of the tissue.
Blood Supply: The forearm has a robust and accessible vascular system easy to connect during the transfer.
🌟 Why This "Stunned" the World
Natural Materials: Unlike synthetic plastic ears, this was made of the patient's own living tissue (rib cartilage and skin), meaning no risk of rejection.
Psychological Impact: It restored the patient's appearance completely, not just cosmetically but functionally as living tissue.
Innovation: It proved that we can use parts of the human body as "incubators" to grow organs for other parts.
Note: There was a similar earlier case in the US (2012) where a woman named Sherrie Walters grew an ear on her arm at Johns Hopkins Hospital after losing hers to cancer, which paved the way for these procedures.
Comments